Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

The great trinity of sweet breads - zucchini, banana, and pumpkin - are all made better with chocolate chips. And I've got an army of kids, neices, nephews, a sister and a brother-in-law that will back me up on this loaf. Not that any of you should actually require convincing.
I made these loaves - I love that it makes two - on a Sunday morning and left them to cool while we were at church. Ed had to give someone a ride home after church, so the girls and I beat him home by about 10 minutes. By the time he walked in, we had devoured an entire half a loaf. Keeping hungry kids at bay for two minutes while I took quick pictures was no small feat, either.

I went and left the second loaf in my sister's kitchen, whose family was returning late that night from an 8-day vacation. Yummy breakfast. We had it for breakfast the next day, too, and I actually wrote down a quote from Hazel's morning prayer: "...and we thank Thee that Mommy made delicious delicious delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread..." When it makes it into the prayer like that, you know it's good.

For a pumpkin bread that's actually made from pumpkin, not Trader Joe's mix, I think this one would be very hard to beat.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups cooked pumpkin or 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

3. Pour batter into two greased 8x4 loaf pans. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Makes 2 loaves.